Copyright infringement in Our Country in 2022

Copyright infringement is a serious matter that can even lead to criminal liability. How copyright works in Our Country in 2022 – we figure it out together with an expert

A photograph published without permission, borrowing someone else’s soundtrack, releasing equipment under a “fake” trademark – all this is copyright infringement. In Our Country, and the rest of the world, this practice is found everywhere. Many people have heard about intellectual property, but not everyone knows that violators can be prosecuted and compensated. Let’s talk about ways to protect copyright holders, tell you how to prepare a copyright infringement claim in Our Country in 2022.

What is copyright

Also, copyright is a set of legal norms that regulate relations regarding the creation and use of certain works.

That is, copyright is understood either directly as the fact that intellectual property belongs to a particular person, or as a legal sphere that deals with issues around intellectual property.

Features of copyright in Our Country

What does copyright cover?	On works of science, literature and art. The works of science mean the widest range: from inventions and IT programs to breeding achievements and databases
What rights does the author of a work have?	Exclusive, the right to the name of the author, the right of authorship, the right to inviolability and publication of the work. In some cases, there are rights to remuneration for a service work, the right to recall, the right to follow and access to works of fine art
Duration of exclusive copyright	From 5 to 70 years old. Depends on the specific piece. For example, for industrial designs the shortest term is 5 years, for books and films the longest is 70 years. Moreover, in the case of books (and not only books!) the period is calculated from the next year after the death of the author. The right is valid during the life of the author, but again – not with all works
When does an author have the right to a work?	At the time of its creation
The main document that governs copyright	Part Four of the Civil Code of the Federation
Who can own copyright	Individuals and legal entities
Ways to protect against copyright infringement	Deposit, copyright mark, lawsuit, police

Copyright infringement article

The administrative code (CAO RF) has article 7.12¹. In the Criminal Code (Criminal Code of the Federation) there is an article 146² for violation of copyright and related rights. In addition, in the Civil Code of the Federation, article 1301³ says that in case of violation of the exclusive right to a work, the author or other right holder may demand damages or compensation.

Liability for copyright infringement

Administrative

Under article 7.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Federation, they can be held liable for violation of copyright, related, inventive and patent rights. But the list of situations for which they can be punished is limited.

Import, sale, rental or other illegal use of copies of works or phonograms for the purpose of generating income. That is, they tried to make money on someone else’s intellectual property. At the same time, copies of works must be counterfeit or contain false information about the manufacturers, places of their production, as well as about the owners of copyright and related rights. A simple example: the sale of shoes and clothing with brand logos, to which the copyright holder company itself has nothing to do.
Illegal use of an invention, utility model or industrial design. Example: a scientist received a patent for know-how, but according to his drawings, the release of the invention was launched without demand.
Disclosure without the consent of the author of the essence of the invention, utility model or industrial design before the official publication of information about them. Example: before the release of a new smartphone, insiders are trying to leak an image of the device to the network. If this happened in Our Country, one could be held accountable under this article. Although abroad, intellectual property is protected even more strictly, so firms also sue insiders.
Assignment of authorship or coercion to co-authorship.

This article is punishable by a fine. The maximum amount depends on who broke the law. Individuals will pay a maximum of 2000 rubles, officials – up to 20 rubles, and legal entities – up to 000 rubles. The court may decide to confiscate counterfeit goods.

Administrative cases on copyright infringement are dealt with by courts of general jurisdiction. The statute of limitations for such cases is one year.

Criminal

Under article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Federation, they will be punished for:

attribution of authorship (plagiarism);
illegal use of objects of copyright or related rights;
acquisition, storage, transportation of counterfeit copies of works or phonograms for the purpose of sale.

Only situations that result in major damage to the author or other copyright holder fall under the Criminal Code. The damage that can be recognized as large, the courts determine from the circumstances of each case. For example, from the amount of real damage, lost profits, the amount of income received by the violator.

The punishment may be a fine of up to 200 rubles, correctional or compulsory labor. The most severe for plagiarism – up to six months of arrest, for illegal use and counterfeiting – up to two years in prison. The statute of limitations for a crime is two years. After this period, the violator will no longer be punished.

A separate part of the article highlights crimes with the illegal use of copyright objects, as well as all acts with counterfeit goods for sale, if they:

were committed by a group of persons with collusion;
the offender used his official position;
the damage was recognized as especially large – more than 1 million rubles.

In this case, the violator will face forced labor, a fine of up to 500 rubles, and up to six years in prison. The punishment is determined by the court. The statute of limitations in this case is ten years.

Ways to protect copyright

There are several ways to protect yourself from copyright infringement in Our Country.

Put a sign ©

It is called copywrite – “copyright” from English. Our Civil Code states:

“To notify of the exclusive right to a work belonging to him, the copyright holder has the right to use the copyright protection sign, which is placed on each copy of the work” (Article 1271 of the Civil Code of the Federation)⁴.

The Code describes the sign of “copyright” as follows: the Latin letter C in a circle, next to the name or title of the copyright holder, as well as the year of the first publication of the work.

Open modern books of major publishers and you will see such a sign on the title page, on the back cover, and sometimes even in the page headers. Take the instructions for household appliances and also find there a “copyright”, a trademark sign and a postscript “All rights reserved”.

One bad thing: the © sign is not some kind of spell that will bestow reliable protection for your intellectual property. Rather, it is a preventive measure. And if your work was nevertheless stolen, then it will be easier for you to prove ownership – after all, your name and © were on the intellectual property.

Copyright deposit

This is a documentary fixation of authorship. There are registries that operate to allow copyright holders to register their intellectual property. For example, patent offices and copyright societies. Often these are physical offices, but in 2022 there are more and more services that provide online escrow services. Example: wrote a song, uploaded it, paid a commission – received a certificate. When they saw that someone stole your music, they went to court with this evidence and proved their case.

Compensation for copyright infringement

Above we talked about Article 1301 of the Civil Code of the Federation. It says that through the court it is possible to recover from 10 thousand to 5 million rubles in compensation for violation of intellectual property. To do this, you need to prepare a lawsuit in court – district, if you have a dispute with an individual, and in arbitration – if the violator is a legal entity. In court, you will have to argue the amount of compensation and prove that you have exclusive rights to the work.

Bringing to administrative and criminal liability

When a copyright infringement situation falls within the criteria we described in the Copyright Infringement Liability section, you can add a problem violator. On the administrative composition of the offense, file a lawsuit in court. For criminal cases, file a police report.

How to Prepare a Copyright Infringement Claim

Decide if you need legal help

At the first stage of the struggle for intellectual property, you need to decide: are you acting on your own and enlisting the help of pros? A lawyer is an additional financial cost. On the other hand, saved personal time. In addition, if copyright issues are the specialization of a lawyer, he knows an effective algorithm for drafting, filing a claim and substantiating it. It is possible that with a competent lawyer it will be possible to deal with copyright infringement without bringing the case to court.

Record the violation

Before filing a lawsuit, you must have evidence that your work is being replicated, sold, exhibited without demand. You can’t go to court, open a photo on your phone and say: “Here, they stole my picture!” or “Sell my product under their own logo.” You will need to go to a notary to have the fact recorded.

Prepare a pre-trial claim

For courts with legal entities, this is a mandatory practice. The main content of a competent pre-trial claim repeats the claim to the court. Its compiler logically and structured sets out the essence of the claim, describes the circumstances. Brings to the attention of the violator that he intends to sue, explains why the law was violated, and at the end of the claim indicates the requirements for the violator. For example, pay compensation, remove an image, stop trading and counterfeiting, publish a retraction, and so on.

File a lawsuit

If you did not receive a response to the pre-trial claim or the answer did not suit you, then take all the correspondence with the defendant, collect all the evidence and file a claim with the court.

The statement itself is the tip of the iceberg. Get ready to prove the circumstances that you refer to as the basis for your claims. As the process proceeds, it will be necessary to draw up petitions for the reclamation of evidence, their examination, research, inclusion of additional evidence, summoning witnesses, conducting an independent examination, and others.

Examples of copyright infringement

1. The travel agency decided to decorate their site with a beautiful landscape photo. Her content manager saw a beautiful picture on the social network. The frame was downloaded and used for the design of their page. The author of the photo after a while saw his work. He was asked permission.

2. The TV channel broadcast music videos and inserted songs as an audio background in its stories. The copyright holders of the compositions – the music label – found out about this. Since there was no agreement on royalties with them, they sued.

3. A residential design engineer posted her work on social networks so that potential customers could evaluate her portfolio. Interest in the projects was shown not only by clients, but also by competitors. We took sketches, posted them on our website and launched an advertising campaign with these illustrations. The author of intellectual property was outraged by plagiarism and filed a lawsuit.

4. The designer of women’s accessories was famous for her glove models. The style was completely copied by the entrepreneur, he began to sew the same ones and sell them in his store. The fashion designer was indignant, carried out a test purchase, ordered an examination of products. She demanded from the court to prohibit the businessman from selling gloves of her design, and from the violator – payment of compensation.